you down with MHC?

Just read this interesting article in Time Magazine about how romance is linked to smell. We respond to olfactory cues and in fact, smell helps us narrow our choices of potential partners.

MHC (the major histocompatibility complex), a set of genes that controls the immune system and influences tissue rejection is especially critical. You jive best with a partner whose MHC is sufficiently different from your own. Studies show that couples with similar MHC’s have trouble conceiving or an increased risk of miscarriage.

A study had females smell various t-shirts worn by different anonymous men, then pick the one that appealed to them most. Most women chose ones worn by men with a MHC dissimilar to her own (=good). Those who chose the t-shirts worn by men with similar MHC (=bad) were on birth control. The daily dose of hormones confounds the MHC-smell detection system.

A chemist associated with the studies “wonders if the Pill may contribute to divorce… Women pick a husband when they’re on birth control, then quit to have a baby and realize they’ve made a mistake.” Here’s an in depth description of the study & a scientific explanation here.

Watch out Match.com, ScientificMatch.com is taking over. My friend Pavla read about this online dating service where you send in saliva samples and the program matches you with a mate with dissimilar immune system genes. Only $1,995.95 for a year for anyone except convicted criminals or women on birth control.

— dihard

i dislike being on the pill for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons being the fact that i don’t feel like myself.

i can’t explain the particulars because i’m not even sure of them, but i find myself more emotional and sensitive—-never a positive trait in relationships, and certainly not welcome in the midst of a conflict.

my parents vocalized their dissatisfaction about my unemotional self when i was younger and expressed how shocked they were at my rational, logical thinking, even at a young age. i wasn’t a typical “girl:” i didn’t cry very much—if ever—and kept to myself, even around my best friend(s).

when i was very young, age four or five, i wouldn’t apologize or cry if i was punished, believing that i was right and had done nothing wrong. of course, that wasn’t always the case (i wish!), but i didn’t cave or become sensitive under pressure from my parents.

now, however, i have a much more acute sense of conscience and my emotional stability can be compromised easily. although i still try and hide it (i’ve never liked to talk about what’s bothering me, to anyone), i cry more readily, and find myself more neurotic and bothered than ever before.

perhaps that’s just getting older, but i think that it has a direct link to the fact that i went on the pill at a young-ish age (16, i believe) and haven’t been off of it since.

i wish i could reap the benefits of the pill in a more natural way, but until something miraculous is invented, the pros still outweigh the cons.

i think.